The Espanyol Sentinel
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Joel Medina, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.10
A mark of 8.10 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Espanyol
Tyrhys Dolan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Real improvement from Roger Hinojo at Espanyol
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Roger Hinojo is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Miguel Rubio was immovable
22 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Espanyol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edu Expósito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Espanyol
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market23 Aug 2027
Eyes on Justin Smith again
The phone has started ringing about Justin Smith again, and this time the name on the line is Rayo Vallecano. Espanyol are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A late step up for Antoniu Roca
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
Espanyol supporters have found a favourite in Joel Medina
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Joel Medina has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
- Market Jan Martínez steps up from the Espanyol academy
- Market Espanyol promote Santiago Montero from within
- Market Mario Medina steps up from the Espanyol academy